Country Pies Black Claws And Oily Rags (The Early Years Of Chas And Dave)

Before they put out their first record as Chas & Dave in the mid-'70s, Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock had already recorded and performed together as part of a number of projects under different names. This compilation brings together 26 tracks cut during this 1971-1975 era, including everything from the self-titled 1971 album by Country Pie and the self-titled 1974 album by Oily Rags, as well as a couple 1975 Chas & Dave demos and two 1971 Black Claw tracks on which Peacock played. The strange Country Pie LP was issued on a budget label and recorded in a mere three-hour session, though actually it sounds fairly accomplished and well thought out, and certainly leagues above most budget LPs in artistry. You wouldn't say it's very original, however, since it's heavily derivative of Jerry Lee Lewis. Not Sun-era Jerry Lee Lewis, mind you, but the kind of material Lewis was doing in the late '60s that straddled country and rock. As obvious imitations go, however, it's pretty good, almost to the point of being humorously accurate. The tunes have an easygoing barroom bounce, the vocals have much of Jerry Lee's laid-back cockiness, and the material (including covers of Little Milton's "Grits Ain't Groceries" and Bob Dylan's "Country Pie") is fairly solid. You'd be better off with an actual Jerry Lee Lewis record, of course, but if you're the type of roots rock fan to get a kick out of well-done imitation to the point of flattery, you'll get a kick out of it.
Like the Country Pie LP, Oily Rags has a pronounced debt to Jerry Lee Lewis' brand of honky tonk-cum-rock & roll, but it's far more laid-back, to the point of sometimes verging on lethargy, if truth be told. Often it offers the kind of rolling, reflective songs you might expect to hear at a local pub catering to a clientele that wants something grittier than folk music, but nothing too loud or nervy. Nothing wrong with that, but like much such music, it's really only adequate for background settings, and hardly inspiring enough to warrant devoted listening attention. It's only occasionally that this rocks Jerry Lee style, as "Country Boy Picker" does; mixed in are nearly turgid country ballads like "Boiled Beef and Carrots" and "Baby Doll," usually with a barroom piano base, though "Jody and the Kid" sounds almost like a country-folk Leonard Cohen. Vague reference points might also include artists like Leon Russell, the Band, and Dr. John, but Oily Rags are consistently more country-oriented and consistently less interesting. As for the four extras, the two 1971 Black Claw tracks are bluesier good-time rockers more in tune with the times; the 1975 demo "Clive of India" is a hastily strummed folk tune with much less of a country influence than most of the other tracks; and the other 1975 demo, "Mama & Papa Jazz," sees them moving back into rather nondescript good-time honky tonking piano-anchored sounds. ~ Richie Unterberger|